DeMarcus Cousins demands a trade? Time to crank up the Sacramento-to-Houston Express again

Soon, it won’t matter what was said or who said it. Paul Westphal called out and suspended DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins no doubt will blame Westphal. Irreconcilable differences almost always end in divorce.

When a coach and a player cannot coexist, the outcome is usually the same. Both are usually shown the way out of town. It does not happen at once, but it usually is the beginning of the end.

The Kings will no doubt try to repair this relationship, or at least pretend that they have, but no one will buy it. Cousins will likely return to the team, pledging his great determination to excel for his team and teammates. Westphal will insist they will move on stronger than they were before.

By then, they will have been flooded with calls with offers to take Cousins off the Kings’ hands, perhaps even for more than 10 cents on the dollar.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey absolutely should be making those calls – if he can get through – to make his proposal to help the Kings through this difficult situation, particularly before the Kings decide that they really, truly love Cousins and still plan to make him a part of all their hopes and dreams.

For now, Cousins was invited to stay home. His agent, John Greig, told SI.comthat Cousins has not asked for a trade. Perhaps he was distinguishing between asking and shouting with Yahoo Sports! reporting that Kings players heard Cousins shout his trade demand at coach Paul Westphal.

The Kings released a statement from Westphal saying that Cousins “demanded to be traded.” The best part is that Westphal said Cousins “continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team.”

That line alone could cost the Kings a pick in the trade offers they will receive.

“Whenever a new season begins, in any sport, there is great hope that everything will progress in only a steady, upward direction. As we all know, it seldom happens like that in this life!

As coaches, we can only ask that our players do everything they can to improve themselves as individuals and teammates. If they do this with all their hearts, we live with the results.

Everything that happens on a team does not become known to the public. This is how it should be. However, when a player continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team, it cannot be ignored indefinitely.

DeMarcus Cousins has demanded to be traded. In the best interest of our team as we go forward, he has been directed by me, with the support of management, to stay home from the New Orleans game tonight.”

The Rockets have been frequent trade partners with the Kings. They have excess young talent and future picks to offer. They have short-term contracts to configure in a deal to make a trade work for a rebuilding, young team.

Cousins, for whatever issues he has had in a little more than a season in the NBA, is a big-time talent, the sort the Rockets have eagerly hoped to acquire without nose diving to those early lottery picks where players like that are taken.

With Kevin McHale, they feel they have the kind of communication-oriented coach that could work well with a young player that has had issues, let’s say, embracing traveling in the same direction as his team. They would hope McHale’s Hall of Fame status would bring the sort of tangible credibility that could influence Cousins. They have a coaching staff selected to work with young players and a locker room of professionals.

Morey has also shown a strong willingness to take a chance on players that struggled in their first stop, having brought in former lottery picks Jordan Hill, Hasheem Thabeet, Jonny Flynn and Terrence Williams within two or fewer seasons of their selections among the top 11 picks.

It would be a gamble, to be sure, but the kind of risk they would have to take. They won’t be the only one. And whether the Kings plan to trade Cousins or not, they will insist they would not consider such a thing.

No matter what they say publicly, or in all the calls to come with general managers, it is getting tougher to clean up this mess. Morey will be wearing out that Blackberry early this season.